AustraliaABC News & HeadlinesBureau of Meteorology makes major updates to rain radar on its maligned new website
The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its rain radar website nearly a year after its $96.5 million revamp was widely panned by Australians.
The Bureau of Meteorology has made major updates to the rain radar on its website, nearly a year since its widely criticised launch.
The Bureau of Meteorology has rolled out major rain radar upgrades to its website, almost a year after its troubled $96.5 million relaunch.
New features include radar range rings, clickable radar icons, quick links, and higher definition display of light to moderate rainfall.
BOM chief Stuart Minchin says more updates are coming later this year, and the bureau is still inviting community feedback on the site.
The new radar now shows range rings so you can estimate how far rain is from your location, and radar quick links make it faster to find your local forecast.
Almost a year since the launch of its much-maligned new website, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has made major upgrades to rain radar information.
The BOM faced a torrent of criticism over the new-look site, which was launched in October last year during wild weather.
One of the main criticisms was the look and usability of the new rain radar, which forced the bureau to swiftly change the colour scheme of the tool.
The bureau now says it had further improved the weather map to make it easier to find rainfall information.
Chief executive Stuart Minchin said the latest update addressed community feedback.
"We know how much value the community places on their local rain radar," he said.
"We've listened to feedback and made these updates to help you get to your local radar faster and estimate how far away rain is," Dr Minchin said.
Website drama
It has been a tumultuous year for the national weather forecaster.
Not only was there a big backlash to the look and usability of the new site, the cost of the revamp was also scrutinised and later revealed to have cost taxpayers $96.5 million.
BOM executives were grilled in federal parliament Senate questioning.
In August this year, Dr Minchin announced an independent review.
While the new website still looks fairly similar to how it did when it first launched, several updates have been done.
The latest round of changes went live this week, including enhancements to the rain radar and weather map.
"This update includes the addition of radar locations, radar quick links [and] changes to how rainfall is displayed," the BOM said in a statement.
"Radar range rings [also] provide a visual measurement guide to how far rainfall is from familiar landmarks and locations."
A radar locations feature, radar quick links and clickable radar icons have also been added.
"Rain is now better detected and more accurately displayed on the weather map, with higher definition and detail when very light to moderate rainfall is observed and when data from overlapping radars is used," the statement said.
Dr Minchin said more updates were planned for later this year, including some changes to Australian places with dual names.
"We encourage the community to continue to share their website feedback, and we will respond with enhancements and adjustments," he said.
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